FIVE candidates will contest a Durham County Council election that has been called following the death of a former chairman.

The poll for election to the late Councillor Pauline Charlton’s seat in the Evenwood ward will be held on Thursday, October 23, between 7am to 10pm.

The ward includes West Auckland, Toft Hill and Etherley, Evenwood and Ramshaw, Butterknowle, Cockfield, Woodland and Hamsterley.

Cllr Charlton, a retired school teacher, had lived in Esperley, near Bishop Auckland, with her late husband Harry since 1984.

She was chairman of the county council in 2013-14 and the Rt Worshipful Mayor of Durham, during which time she raised £19,000 for the Butterwick Hospice and Treetops Children’s Ward at University Hospital of North Durham.

The 75-year-old mother-of-two died on Tuesday, August 26, following illness.

She was a Labour councillor and the party has selected Heather Lesley Smith, of the Mill, Evenwood, as its candidate.

Lee Carnighan, of Etherley Dene, near Bishop Auckland, is standing as an independent candidate; Ben Casey, of Shirley Close, Evenwood, stands for UKIP; Stephen Hugill, of High Etherley, near Bishop Auckland, represents the Conservative Party, and Greg Robinson, of Ennerdale Grove, West Auckland, stands on behalf of The Green Party.